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Wine Bailout

Dude, Where’s My 401K? – A genius idea, pay your $39 a bottle and on the purchase date the price is pegged to the Dow Jones Industrial Average…price never rises about £39 a bottle but could fall…”The wine will be bottled in August 2009. If the Dow goes down, you get an economic stimulus check of $2 per bottle for every 100 point drop. If it goes up, then your 401K is looking good and the maximum of $39 is a steal for similar wines we produce that command $75+ at retail. Bull
or bear, you can’t lose.” From Vinography on Twitter.

CellarTracker & my wine

I’ve recently started spending a lot more time buying, sorting and researching wine. This is partly in preparation for the ‘party season’ but also I’ve caught ‘the bug’; I’ve been to a number of wine tastings recently (Virgin Wines, Bibendum, The Wine Show) and have ended up buying various mixed cases of my favourites.
I’ve reached the point where I have circa 120 bottles; some for drinking now, some to be kept for special occasions and about 20 which could do with about 2-6 years of cellaring. My physical organisation and storage of these wines is fairly haphazard, the wines for laying down sit in a wine rack in a cool room in the flat, whites for immediate drinking are in the fridge, bottles sealed with a cork are in various cool cupboards in makeshift racks, while the rest are still in their cases until I find more rack space.

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Supermarket champagne

Champagne put to the test: Taking the fizz out of bubbly
“In a blind test that has thrilled the marketing departments of the
major retailers and perturbed at least one of the grande marques, six
wine experts gave a resounding vote of support to some of the less
glamorous bottles.”

Top 10 Best Buys

1 Sainsbury’s Taste the difference Vintage 2000 Premier Cru Champagne

2 Somerfield Prince William Premier Cru Champagne NV

3 Pierre Gimonnet & Fils 1er Cru ‘Gastronome’ – Oddbins

4 Lanson Black Label NV – Tescp

5= Radcliffes de Brissar Champagne NV – Threshers/Wine Rack

5= Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin NV – Tesco

7 Tesco Premier Cru Champagne Brut NV

8= Champagne Les Pionniers NV – Co-op

8= Oudinot Cuvee Brut NV – M&S

10 Waitrose Champagne 1999

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The Wine Gang

The Wine Gang is a fantastic new(ish) wine review site, a collaboration between 5 top wine critics. They review wines on sale in supermarkets and wine merchants across the UK, issuing a set of notes each month. I’ve already used them to guide my purchases at Marks & Spencers this afternoon, making the most of the M&S 20% discounts. Subscription is £19.99 per year.

What’s Greg watching now?

In a follow-up to my previous post and Rob’s initial question, I thought I’d summarise what’s keeping me hooked on TV currently.

  • Heroes – Now onto Season 3, I’m enjoying the battle lines being drawn in the classic good vs evil fight to come…plus great cameos by Seth Green and Breckin Meyer who run…wait for it…a comic book store and ‘advising’ one of the Heroes. In their words: “Best…Day…Ever”.
  • Fringe – From J.J. Abrahms, this follows a team of FBI agents and scientists as they investigate ‘fringe science’ events…a little like a new X-Files. Decent length episodes, great cast (in my opinion), creepy corporation; here’s hoping they renew this for another season!
  • Californication – Season 2 has started, I’ve watched the first few episodes and frankly got bored…may give it another go over the Christmas period.
  • House – Still on good form, nice to see Cameron and Chase still playing reasonable roles…watch if only for Hugh Laurie
  • Prison Break – Season 4 has become less about breaking out and more about breaking IN to places, but still highly enjoyable…if a little predictable. The show has changed substantially since Season 1 (partly by necessity, I admit) and I’m yet to decide whether the change is for the better.
  • Chuck – Still fun, still geeky, glad it’s back. Easy-watching humour for a weekday night
  • Spooks – Season 7 has started here in the UK and the season-arcing plotline seems to involve Russia, Russians and more Russians. The writing is still tight, action scenes are believable (mostly) and newcomer Richard Armitage adding more depth in his role as Lucas North. A must-watch show, the writers continue to go where viewers never expect them too…see Episode 7.
  • Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles – Following on from the events of Terminator 2: Judgement Day, watch if only for the creepy Shirley Manson (Garbage) as a T-1001 and Summer Glau (Serenity) as John Connor’s protector (most of the time).
  • Life – This intriguing show stars Damian Lewis as Charlie Crews, a detective who was recently released from prison after serving twelve years for a crime he did not commit and is on the hunt for the comspirators…plus he’s very Zen and loves fruit. Watch if only for his detective partner, Dani Reese played by Sarah Shahi.And briefly, I dip into Smallville (guilty pleasure) and Dirty Sexy Money (if only for the fantastic Donald Sutherland) as well as the usual Top Gear, Mock the Week and Have I Got News For You.

    Is there anything I’m missing?
    Needless to say I’m eagerly awaiting the return of Battlestar Galactica in 2009.

Roodi & Liam’s Wedding

I was lucky enough to be invited to the wedding of Roodi and Liam this Saturday, two friends from College of Law and fellow lawyers.
The service was held in the Brompton Oratory (or more correctly the Church of the Immaculate Heart of Mary), the second largest Catholic church in London after Westminster Cathedral and an incredible building. Unfortunately photography was not permitted so I’ll hopefully link to the professional photographer’s site shortly.
The reception was held at the Royal Horseguards Hotel in Whitehall and without further ado the photos can be found here and on Facebook.

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Teenage Tortoises

No slower human movement has ever been officially recorded than that of two umpires sludging towards each other to confer over the light, like a pair of amorous teenage tortoises unsure of whether to make the first move, or two unhappy commuters trying to miss the same train. — Andy Zaltzman at The Confectionery Stall on Cricinfo. From The Masterplan